Syrians, Foreigners Flee as Forces Move on İS

More than 23,000 Syrian civilians and foreign nationals have fled eastern Syria this week as the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces move on the last İslamic State pockets in Deir el-Zour governorate, according to local officials and activists.

The displaced residents, mostly women and children, have been placed in the Kurdish al-Hol camp in al-Hasakah governorate in Syria's northeast.

The administrator of the camp, Nabil Hassan, told VOA that many of the women and children in the new wave of displacement this week are foreign nationals and family members of İS.

"Most of the new arrivals are Iraqis and some of them are Syrians. They are mostly wives and children of [IS] thugs," Hassan told VOA.

An estimated 1,000 foreign nationals from Europe and Central and East Asia have also arrived at the camp since the escalation of clashes in mid-December, according to Hassan. ​